A Leaf of the Heart
by DepartedSoul
Summary: Updated again! A will be collection of drabbles and oneshots. Mostly Mai X Naru. Some are pretty depressing like the first one. Enjoy anyway! Ch 3 is a little cute
1. Chapter 1 Behind Closed Doors

**XX Warning: This is very out of character, and I'm sorry. It's not really something I could see happening, but this is what could be going through his head if he ever _were _considering it. **Just read, you'll find out what I mean. **XX**

**- - **Phew, the reviews haven't been so bad, I was expecting much worse, I nearly decided to delete the story... thanks :) - -**  
**

Oh fun, fun, fun. This is the moment you have all been waiting for! ...Well, not really... but let's just pretend you have XD haha

I hereby present my very own collection of one shots/drabbles/whatever. I still don't get the difference between drabbles and one shots... maybe one shots are like full stories in one chapters and drabbles are like... bits of stories? Like their thoughts? Ok, I admit, I haven't a clue.

Oh pudding, I just dropped my ipod...

Now that I have wasted all this space, time for the boring thing I _actually _meant to say.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or it's characters in any way. (And I don't bother with OCs, but if I do, they'll be completely original and my own)

Yeah, this one is pretty depressing (I was listening to a depressing song... maybe someone can guess which song it was), but there's a sort of "glimmer of hope" at the end. And it's sort of cliff-hangerish. I only do cliff hangers because I hate them, they really bug me. Doesn't make sense, does it? I suppose it's like when you have a sore tooth but you can't help poking and wiggling it XD

Right, onwards to the stories!! (I hope "T" is an appropriate rating!)

- - - - -

**Chapter One – Behind Closed Doors**

The moonlight lit the corners of his room with a dark blue, casting long, dark shadows across his face. _Thankfully_, he thought. He didn't want anyone or thing – not even the bare walls of the bedroom – to see him in his weakest moments. Awoken from a vivid nightmare... He rested a cold, clammy hand on his forehead, a cold sweat beaded across it too. He was feeling feverish, his cheeks burning and the small room spinning. He slowly rose from the edge of the bed and staggered towards the window, lifting the damp towel lying sprawled across the ground. Gazing out, he gently dabbed the sweat from his brow.

The exact contents of the nightmare had evaded him the moment he had opened his eyes, but it didn't matter anyway – he knew it had been about _them._ The only two people in his life who had ever affected him so strongly. They left him feeling so... defenceless, yet... alive. He had almost forgotten the feeling until he had met her, and it seemed like he had never lost his brother, like the world would be alright after all... Yet he had gained some one else, but she was just as special to him, in a different way.

This relief from the crushing weight on his shoulders never lasted long, however, if there wasn't a new case to be involved in, and so the nightmares began, having nothing to hide behind, behind closed doors.

He pulled a small wrapped object from the small chest of drawers next to him. It was wrapped in a deep red silk cloth. The slippery material slid off, revealing a silver blade with a plain, black wooden handle. The knife was thin and quite short, but very, very sharp. He twisted it in his fingers, allowing the moonlight to catch on the silver and flash across the room. He examined it and ran his slender forefinger down the blunt back of the blade.

_It could all end so quickly. I wouldn't have to deal with any of this. I could be free, nobody to hurt and nobody to be hurt by..._

He pressed his finger on the tip of the blade, drawing the tiniest droplet of blood, savouring the fleeting, and barely noticeable pain.

His heart clenched in fear and the warmth drained from his face when the realisation hit him of what he had been doing. He had actually been _contemplating suicide._ He quickly wrapped the weapon up again, fearful that he might do something stupid. He laid it upon the windowsill and buried his head into the towel, calming himself. The panic that had arisen had slowly started to fade and he felt a little better.

A loud knocking could be heard throughout his small apartment.

_Who could it be at this time of night?_

In the dark, he stumbled towards the front door and leant over to look through the spy hole. A whisp of brown hair and pair of chocolate eyes. Smiling at the sight of his visitor, he flicked the lights on, and with a click of the his key, the door unlocked and swung open.

_Maybe the world will be alright after all._

_- - - - -__  
_


	2. Chapter 2 Unrequited

Whoo, the moment you've all been waiting for! Chapter 2! Sorry that I haven't updated in ages, I've been way too busy painting (more like shoving my arm and hair into paint and spreading it all over the place) my Art Coursework, so at least I have a good excuse. I hope this is ok, I wasn't too pleased with it, but it's better than nothing, right?

Once again, I don't own Ghost Hunt, the characters, bla bla bla, but this story is mine, and I hate Valentine's Day.

Enjoy!

**Chapter Two - Unrequited**

_13th February_

Mai was hugging her knees and rocking gently backwards and forwards on her bed, gazing out the window, into the night sky. The stars twinkled at her from billions and billions of miles away, but her thoughts were even further away.

Wriggling her pink-socked toes, she poked the neatly wrapped package at her feet. She had spent such a long time deciding the perfect Valentine's Day gift, and then having to pick out suitable wrapping? Nightmare! For the other members of SPR, she had simply picked out a few pretty boxes of chocolate from the local supermarket, but the gift she had almost dreaded picking, was for Naru. She knew that he wouldn't really appreciate a box of chocolates, and she wanted his to be _special_ anyway...

She sighed and lay back, narrowly missing the wall with her head. Examining the plain, dark puple wrapping for the millionth time, Mai felt the now-familiar butterflies have a wild party in her stomach, and she groaned, trying to shake the feeling off. She had settled on purple for the wrapping, as it was still a "Valentine's" colour, but not too feminine. It was an acceptable colour. And she liked purple anyway.

Compared to the task that lay ahead of her now, deciding on the present had been the easy part. Mai glanced over to the digital clock that sat upon her bedside table. The small digital display read 11:21 PM._Great_, she moaned,_only a few hours away_. How was she going to present this gift to Naru? In the previous years, she had only given it to him as she was bringing him his tea, but then she had really only _flung _it in his direction, and this time she wasn't going to be so childish, she had decided.

How could she even know, whether he felt the same way or not? He_had_never given any indication that had confirmed her hopes. _But he never showed any indication otherwise, either_, a small, hopeful voice piped up in the back of her mind. Anyway, if she felt she had overdone the Valentine's Day gesture, she did have a replacement present – a similar box of chocolates to the ones she had bought for the others. Mai hoped that he would accept her gift, whichever she ultimately decided on.

She pondered her "complex" situation some more, staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling. Lying flat on her back, she started breathing more and more slowly, eventually dropping into a light sleep, dreaming of the following day...

- - - - -

Omake:

He watched her as she lay on her bed. She had had a look of pure confusion and frustration written on her face a moment ago, but now she lay there, her features calm and... content. How he had longed for so long to be able to just _speak_ with her, never mind hold her. He was prepared to let her go, however, he wanted to stay just one more night watching over her. It hurt just to look at her. He smiled sadly to himself, and closed his eyes.

The minutes ticked on, growing from minutes to hours, and eventually dawn. He opened his eyes as the sunlight began trickling through the half-closed curtains, and did all he was still able to do – wish Mai luck in the task she had set herself. He watched Mai for a few more minutes.

He disappeared with the sunlight that had chased away the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3 A Summer's Musings

Right, finally a less serious chapter :D It's slightly fluffy. And I know it might sound a little out of character at the end, but you have to imagine Naru looking all serious, wearing his "lecture face" or something, ok? I hope Naru seems a little more human after this chapter.

Enjoy!

(Don't own Ghost Hunt or whatever, it's just my story)

**Chapter Three – A Summer's Musings**

He looked down at the pile of files before him. He sighed as he thought of the work that lay ahead of him that he'd been putting off for weeks now. It had to be done, even if he didn't want to. _There are some things in life that must be done, but you don't want to do. _Naru's brother's words echoed within his mind. Gene had been right, of course, but that didn't make the work any easier.

Naru shook his head to shake out the memory of Gene, so he could finally concentrate on the stack before him. He took the file closest to him and began to flick through the pages. Everything he tried to read went in through his eyes and right out his ears. Naru tried reading and re-reading the same sentences over, but it was no use. He was much too distracted.

Folding the file over, he turned round in his chair and gazed resignedly out the window. The first signs of summer had begun to show. It was rather early for summer, but the weather was quite warm and sunny and the birds sang their tunes loudly. Naru remembered a summer not all so different to this one. All those years ago, Gene had been asked out by a girl just slightly younger than him. Gene and himself had been known to have many female-fans, Gene, unlike himself, had enjoyed all the attention. He impressed the girls and had been a bit of a flirt. Naru was surprised that he had any fans at all, being completely different to his twin and ignoring all the female attention he ever received.

That particular summer, however, Gene had been asked out by a slightly younger girl, and of course he had accepted, insisting to Naru that he didn't really like her much. _So much for that_, he mused as he remembered Gene rambling on and on about his first kiss. He had never seen Gene quite so excited before. Naru smiled gently to himself, savouring the memories.

He got up out of the swingy-computer chair Mai had convinced him to buy. She had insisted it improved his "evil master-mind" image. At first he had said "No", but had ended up getting it anyway, partly because he was intrigued by this idea Mai had of him. Partly, though, because he couldn't _really _say no to Mai. Naru would never admit that to himself, though.

He watched the street and the people outside from the large window behind his desk. A loud knocking ripped Naru abruptly from his daydreams and he turned to see what the matter was. He saw his young, brunette assistant stumble into the room, balancing a cup of tea in her hand while trying to keep the door from slamming into her.

"Naru! Tea!" she called cheerily across his office. Naru remained as expressionless as ever as he took the tea from her grasp, before she spilt it across his nice carpet. She pulled a silly face, in an attempt to make Naru smile, which of course was wasted effort.

"Right, see ya , Naru," she grinned as she skipped towards the door.

_What's she so cheery about? _Naru frowned as he asked her.

"Didn't you look outside?" she asked in wonder, "Look! It's summer! What else?"

Naru sighed and rolled his eyes. _Of course, I could have guessed. _He thought her carefree innocence was actually quite cute, but he dismissed the feeling as an employer's sense of protection over an employee.

Mai had left the room when Naru had settled himself into his chair once more, to enjoy his wonderful tea. He sipped slowly at the freshly-made brew. He felt his cheeks become warmer and warmer, and slowly the feeling became so overwhelming, he couldn't take it any longer. He set his half-empty cup down on his desk, spilling a little tea on those darned files - but he didn't care. He stripped off his blazer and threw it to the ground. He sprang up and dashed out the room.

- - - - -

Mai was sitting on the sofa, cradling her own cup of tea, when she saw her young boss dash out of his office.

"What's the matter?" she asked him as he came galloping towards her. Naru pulled her wrist and yanked her from the sofa, nearly spilling _her _tea. He dragged her out of the office, replying sternly;

"Didn't you look outside? Look, it's summer. What else?"


End file.
